Field of the Disclosure
The present invention generally relates to cups for containing and dispensing contents such as beverages. More particularly, this invention relates to an improved agitator for mixing the contents of a cup and to a cup containing such an agitator. It will be understood that as used herein the term “cup” refers broadly to any size, shape or type of drinking vessel.
Description of Related Art
There are numerous portable cups which are commonly sold and used for the containment of beverages such as water, juice, soft drinks, shakes, nutritional supplements or infant formulas. Typically, such containers have a lid which selectively covers an opening through which the cup is filled. The lid often includes an aperture for dispensing the contents from the cup. A cover can be selectively positioned to open or close the aperture.
Problems arise with current cups when the beverage is a suspension having components such as powders, syrups or the like blended into a liquid carrier. Preferably, the initial blending or mixing occurs while both the components and the carrier are within the cup itself. Proper initial mixing of the components and carrier can be problematic if it requires a separate stirring element such as a spoon or the like. The separate stirring element typically requires the lid to be left off the container for stirring which increases the chances for spillage. Availability of a separate stirring element is not always assured and even where it is used it creates an additional item to be cleaned. Furthermore, in instances where an initially mixed beverage stands still, beverage components may tend to settle toward the bottom of the cup. Upon settling, the beverage is no longer homogeneous and will not have the proper taste, texture and efficacy. In that case the lid has to be re-opened and the separate stirring element has to be brought back into use, thereby recreating the original nuisance.
These issues can be addressed by use of an agitator placed in the cavity of the cup. The cup is shaken to mix the contents and the agitator bounces around inside the cup, mechanically breaking up agglomerations of solid particles and creating turbulence that enhances mixing of the solids and liquids. Agitators for mixing solids and liquids in a container are known. Some of these agitators are intended for use in aerosol cans, such as are commonly used for spray paint for example. Due to the need to retain elevated pressure inside the aerosol cans, such cans do not have removable lids. Accordingly, the agitators will not be extracted from the can and reused; they will be discarded with the can when it is empty. Thus, there is no concern in the design of the aerosol agitators for cleaning and handling the agitator. This is contrasted with beverage agitators used in cups containing foodstuffs. A user will open and refill a beverage cup numerous times, with cleaning of the cup and agitator commonly being done between uses. Thus, the needs for cleaning and long-term durability distinguish beverage agitators from aerosol agitators.
Examples of beverage agitators include the wire frame agitator shown in U.S. Pat. No. 6,379,032. This agitator has the disadvantages of being difficult to clean and its metal wires can scratch the interior of a plastic cup, which creates places for bacteria to grow. The ball-shaped agitator cannot fit into corners of a cup which often leaves agglomerated beverage components, such as clumps of powder in the bottom edges of the container. Also, at roughly 14-16 grams its relatively light weight has trouble bursting through the powder of some nutritional supplements.
Sommovigo U.S. Pat. No. 5,544,960 has a faceted beverage agitator in the nature of a truncated sphere. With this shape it is incapable of extending into the bottom corners of a cup to scrape out beverage components that may have settled there.
Church U.S. Pat. No. 4,641,975 has a star-shaped aerosol agitator. Since this agitator is not intended for reuse or for use with drinkable fluids, it is not suitably shaped to be cleaned. Further, it is deliberately made non-symmetrical and unbalanced with the idea that an unbalanced agitator will trace nonpredictable random mixing patterns regardless of the user's shaking motion. Espey U.S. Pat. No. 5,236,262 is another aerosol agitator having a generally rounded main portion and at least one projection extending from the main portion.